Gotz the new Fiesta!

bdesigns · 12-02-2009, 10:09 AM

Hey guys, hows the new year treating everyone??
As you can see, im new to the forum and also new to a Ford car. (Driven Hondas all my life).

I was in desperate need of small reliable car so last week i bought myself the new Fiesta Zetec after much research and seeing awesome reviews everywhere.

The dealer said the car should be coming in sometime in Feb so ill be sure to post some pics and reviews after getting it!

Quick question though, do dealers tend to quickly say yes to the deal of buying the car then drag it on as long as possible to give you the car? Coz i think i got it for a pretty good deal, but early in the month.

Anyways, thanks and cya!

-b.

LethalLeigh · 12-02-2009, 02:28 PM

It's probably more a question of supply. I spoke with my dealer about stock recently when I had the 15K service done on mine. They only had CL and LX stock at that point and were still waiting on the Zetecs. It's not uncommon for dealers to receive a small allocation of select models first. Waiting a couple of weeks for an imported car in the colour of your choice isn't a bad situation at all. Good luck with the wait!

BlackLS · 12-02-2009, 02:40 PM

Good to see you out of Honda. Are you getting a run out model or the new model?

Run out: http://www.nextcar.com.au/i.ford.fie...ight.05oct.jpg

New model: http://www.thetorquereport.com/2009_ford_fiesta_3.jpg

**Mechan1k** · 12-02-2009, 03:18 PM

The new models really look the goods.

I remember first seeign it on Top Gear where they drove it through the Shopping Centre with the Corvette ... and also did the beach assault landing with the RAF .... that was a GOLD episode.

cheek · 12-02-2009, 04:16 PM

yeah that was such good advertising

greenfoam · 12-02-2009, 04:50 PM

My wife has had hers for 2 days, it's a Zetec manual 5 door in Moondust silver. Can't really fault the car, For a small (or any car really) it's a stunning looking thing. If you want the colour of your choice in a Zetec you have to wait untill June/July at the moment and yep they seem to be happy to sell them without telling you the truth about when you will get it. I had to make alot of phone calls to dig down to the real truth. And after that she decided it wasn't worth waiting that long for a Morello one and changed it to Silver since there was one sitting at a dealer near Melbourne.

Anything in stock you can have now (there's hardly any left)
Sea Grey or Red you can have SOON (next ship)
Any other colour in a Zetec you'll likely wait till June or July

eleusis · 13-02-2009, 01:53 AM

I had been looking for a new car since back in October, did a bunch of research and *almost* got a WQ model when I noticed the WS model appear on the Ford website.. Since then, I had just been lapping up all the news and reviews I could find; absolutely loved the Top Gear review.

Yesterday I picked up my shiny new Ocean Blue Zetec and I'm still in awe at how very smooth it is..

Now, I've just got to be on the lookout for baddies in a corvette near a shopping centre... ;)

**Mechan1k** · 13-02-2009, 02:00 AM

Anyone got pics of theirs yet???

bdesigns · 13-02-2009, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackLS

Good to see you out of Honda. Are you getting a run out model or the new model?

Run out: http://www.nextcar.com.au/i.ford.fie...ight.05oct.jpg

New model: http://www.thetorquereport.com/2009_ford_fiesta_3.jpg

Hahaha... whats wrong with hondas? They are such a reliable car! :P I had the 5th Gen Prelude VtiR for a couple of years until i decided i need more of a small petrol saving car which is why i sold it. In the mean time, im driving my friends Mazda 3 because he just bought a new gti and cant be bothered selling his mazda. The mazda feels awesome driving as well, i just hope the Fiestas gonna top it even more..

And yup, i got the new Fiesta Zetec after a few months of research; not the old one..

Got the colour in Seagrey and from what Greenfoam and the dealer says, ill be gettin it sometime very soon! Im glad i didnt choose black..

Ill definitely post up some pics and reviews when i get it!

-b.

ps. Does anyone wanna buy a Mazda 3? lol

greenfoam · 13-02-2009, 09:04 AM

I just took some, bit dark since it's earlier in the morning and some dew and dirt on it but you get that

You might notice that oddly, the Australian Zetec has had the side skirts deleted. I've noticed a few differences between the Euro spec version and ours now

BlackLS · 13-02-2009, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdesigns

Hahaha... whats wrong with hondas? They are such a reliable car! :P I had the 5th Gen Prelude VtiR for a couple of years until i decided i need more of a small petrol saving car which is why i sold it. In the mean time, im driving my friends Mazda 3 because he just bought a new gti and cant be bothered selling his mazda. The mazda feels awesome driving as well, i just hope the Fiestas gonna top it even more..

Honda's technology is great as is their reliability. Just a personal opinion but they've become a bit of a poser car.

Also the Focus's handling is better than the Mazda3's, and the Fiesta's is better than the Focus. So you didn't test drive the Fiesta?

BlackLS · 13-02-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenfoam

You might notice that oddly, the Australian Zetec has had the side skirts deleted. I've noticed a few differences between the Euro spec version and ours now

The Euro's probably think we don't have roads in Australia and that we need extra ground clearance.

greenfoam · 13-02-2009, 09:35 AM

Upon further research I see only the 3 door has the side skirts

, I haven't seen a 3 door in Australia but I assume it's got them?

We didn't test drive ours. Pretty hard to find a demo! you just have to have faith in topgear and all the other reviews and hope the Germans build them all the same (which I'm sure they do)

Anyone that's a bit of a Starwars fan is going to laugh when they see the rear seat headrests

bdesigns · 13-02-2009, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackLS

Honda's technology is great as is their reliability. Just a personal opinion but they've become a bit of a poser car.

Also the Focus's handling is better than the Mazda3's, and the Fiesta's is better than the Focus. So you didn't test drive the Fiesta?

Ah whoops, i think i was referring more about the whole upgrade of the car, because before since i had a 97 car going to a 09, it would of been a massive difference in technology etc, but now i got the mazda in between, i was just hoping when i do get my Fiesta, the big hype will still be there. (which it should since it is a new car :P)

And yeah, i did test drive the but only a base model because they didnt have the Zetec on Demo. The drive will be pretty much the same as the Zetec though it only has smaller wheels.

It wasnt a really long test drive plus i get all weird test driving with a guy next to you. (cant fully bang out the thing to your liking.)

All i remember is that it is very responsive and can dive in to turns pretty fast. Only real bad thing i remember is that it does 'feel' a little cramped but thats prob because im also use to my brothers Honda jazz.

greenfoam · 13-02-2009, 04:16 PM

Update :! I went for a drive in it before to try and loosen it up a bit went out the highway and did some runs up some hills. Then went for a drive on slightly hilly roads with a coarse finish for about 20ks and averaged 5.6l/100 so it is improving. But a long way to go untill I get near the quoted 4.9/100 on the highway. I think that's going to take some more time, more slippery oil and a reaaaal smooth road. One thing I'm amazed about is how easy the car rolls, it's like a matchbox on glass, I've never driven anything that rolls so easy.

Also looking around the paint job today, compared to say a new Falcon or VE Commodore well you just can't compare them it's much much higher quality, very thick paint, flawless as far as I can see. It veryyy nice to drive, steers great the gearbox is spot on. You can feel something going on through the rev range I'm not sure if it's the variable intake? opening or what but theres a few spots where you feel something change for the better pretty much on/off type action whatever it is. I'm very impressed by the car so far

Candyman2 · 13-02-2009, 09:30 PM

We pick up our Fiesta Zetec 5 door manual in Vision Blue next week.

Have yet to see one on the road up here.

eleusis · 14-02-2009, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenfoam

One thing I'm amazed about is how easy the car rolls, it's like a matchbox on glass, I've never driven anything that rolls so easy.

Seconded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Candyman2

Have yet to see one on the road up here.

Same here.. I think that the cars are only now being delivered, so maybe we'll see a few more around.

bdesigns · 14-02-2009, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Candyman2

We pick up our Fiesta Zetec 5 door manual in Vision Blue next week.

Have yet to see one on the road up here.

Yea.. i live in south east Melbourne and also still yet to see any model of the new fiesta as well which is pretty cool since ill be getting mine soon and the fact that pretty much the next ones will come in june/july

LethalLeigh · 14-02-2009, 11:35 AM

Saw my first one on the road last night. Twas a Sea Grey 5 door LX.

bdesigns · 14-02-2009, 01:22 PM

man... i keep thinking that i see one, buts it ends up being a mazda 2 lol.. ><

eleusis · 14-02-2009, 02:54 PM

Speaking of getting the new Fiesta.. I finally got around to popping the bonnet on mine this morning, to get familiar with where all the bits were. I fetched the owner's manual and flipped to the section identifying the components in the engine bay. What then threw me was that the oil dipstick was not in the right place for the 1.6L engine.

Comparing my engine bay with the book, it seemed that my car had the 1.4L engine, which is completely weird, as all manual Zetecs are meant to come with the 1.6L. I went back to the dealer and we had a look at the engines of a few manual & auto transmission Fiestas on the showroom floor and noticed that the engines looked pretty much exactly the same, with only some differences in plumbing. (There are no obvious markings on the engine block to indicate the specs)

What does your engine bay look like?

curik · 14-02-2009, 03:36 PM

I'm pretty sure the manual has 1.6 engine. It could be you were looking at the section of the 1.4 engine bay, maybe there is another page for the 1.6?

After hearing how bddesigns got his zetec man for 22k I felt I was ripped off paying 24.5k for an auto with mats, rear sensors, and ipod adapter

: :SaiyanSmi

eleusis · 14-02-2009, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curik

I'm pretty sure the manual has 1.6 engine. It could be you were looking at the section of the 1.4 engine bay, maybe there is another page for the 1.6?

See these images to see what I mean:
- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/...90dfb632_b.jpg
- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/...3e0c4c63_b.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by curik

After hearing how bddesigns got his zetec man for 22k I felt I was ripped off paying 24.5k for an auto with mats, rear sensors, and ipod adapter

: :SaiyanSmi

Oh wow, I didn't know that rear sensors were even an option on the Fiesta..

kiwijohn42 · 14-02-2009, 05:51 PM

I reckon it's a typo in the manual. The old Fiesta has dip stick location as the new one. Looked at a new Zetec today & it looked like yours.

curik · 14-02-2009, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleusis

See these images to see what I mean:
- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/...90dfb632_b.jpg
- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/...3e0c4c63_b.jpg

Oh wow, I didn't know that rear sensors were even an option on the Fiesta..

HOLY CRAP. I know that the 1.4 has intake manifold at the front side, and the 1.6's is on next to the firewall (you can see on the 1.6 the intake pipe goes to the firewall). Now that you mention it I remember I saw the plastic intake manifold at the front on the manual car as well. Unless there has been a misprint on the manual, that pic you have there looks like the 1.4!

curik · 14-02-2009, 06:36 PM

Correction. eleusis, there is no doubt that the manual page is a misprint. In fact the 1.6 and 1.4 looks nearly identical. The only difference is if you watch this video, at 4:00 look at the VCT oil pressure controller and also the camshaft position sensors. You can see those in your engine picture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba-oyIjGWGE

greenfoam · 14-02-2009, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleusis

See these images to see what I mean:
- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/...90dfb632_b.jpg
- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/...3e0c4c63_b.jpg

Oh wow, I didn't know that rear sensors were even an option on the Fiesta..

My wifes manual Zetec has the same engine you have whatever that may be! it's sucks the juice a fair bit still so I assume it's a 1.6 litre

.

Also a quick note about bonnet opening, my wife managed to put a dent in hers closing the bonnet with her hand, I tried to warn her not to do that but it was too late (shes never had a little car with thin sheet metal before) anyway that just something worth mentioning so other people don't ding theirs).

We took it for a trip today and I learnt some more about it's fuel consumption. Pretty smooth nice bit of highway with no airconditioner. Over 100km it averaged 5.8l/100, still along way off the quoted 4.9l/100. With the air conditioner on it makes 7.4l/100, with air off and headlights on it makes about 6.3 :p. It's quite funny how you can drive a bigger car with all that stuff going and end up with similar economy as tiny engine but anyway with everything off it's pretty good. I'm not sure how run in it has to be to make a bit better economy because it's still only done about 700ks. But since something simple like a aircon makes such a massive difference I guess the tightness of a new engine can also make quite a difference.

Nothing much more to say for today, it drove great all day, still loving the gearbox etc

I'll see about an engine number tomorrow, the first couple of digits should identify it as a 1.6 somehow

P.S how much are the Matts? because my wife really wants some

eleusis · 14-02-2009, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenfoam

My wifes manual Zetec has the same engine you have whatever that may be! it's sucks the juice a fair bit still so I assume it's a 1.6 litre

.

Yeah, I'm quite convinced the booklet's wrong by now..

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenfoam

We took it for a trip today and I learnt some more about it's fuel consumption. Pretty smooth nice bit of highway with no airconditioner. Over 100km it averaged 5.8l/100, still along way off the quoted 4.9l/100. With the air conditioner on it makes 7.4l/100, with air off and headlights on it makes about 6.3 :p. It's quite funny how you can drive a bigger car with all that stuff going and end up with similar economy as tiny engine but anyway with everything off it's pretty good. I'm not sure how run in it has to be to make a bit better economy because it's still only done about 700ks. But since something simple like a aircon makes such a massive difference I guess the tightness of a new engine can also make quite a difference.

My trip meter is showing something like 10L/100km at present, though it started off higher, and I haven't driven much so far - only about 70km on the clock..

greenfoam · 14-02-2009, 11:27 PM

If you push the trip computer button in (on the end of the headlight/blinker stalk) you can cycle through the different modes untill you get the the average consumption. Then you push the button in again and hold it there until the figure resets. If you do that while on the highway for example you can get the average for that trip or however long you want till you reset it again

pitpal · 14-02-2009, 11:53 PM

Took the latest Zetec for a spin today with the missus. Big improvement from previous models, great looking interior with good ergonomics, comfy seats and enough room for me as im a big bloke. Heaps comfier than the astra. European car of the year and they say it will be so here too. 5 star safety rating wich is fantastic. Little bit too sluggish tho, but for what there asking in price il live with it.
oh and i dont mind the voice activation too